The Christmas That Almost Never Was

Brothers Kris, Nickolas, and Santa work together to pull off their yearly Christmas deliveries. Once the holiday is over, Kris suggests some new ideas to improve the North Pole infrastructure. Santa puts down the idea and mocks his younger brother, upsetting Kris. Despite Nickolas’s attempts to help his brothers reconcile, things escalate, and Santa refuses to acknowledge Kris’s contributions to their team. After a major fight, the brothers reach their breaking point, and Kris flees the North Pole. Unbeknownst to them is Malekith, a dark elf, who has been working in the background, sowing their seeds of discontent and finally, after 200 years Malekith senses his time has come, he puts his plan to take back his land into overdrive. While on a plane, Kris meets a savvy businessman named Roland, who immediately responds to Kris’s Santa-like demeanor, with the help of Malekith, and suggests they capitalize on it. Keeping his identity a secret, Kris agrees, and the pair decides to create a corporate holiday that will be even bigger than Christmas. They form a company called The Kris Kringle Experience, built on the experience that life is better when Christmas comes every day. The next Christmas arrives, and without Kris there to help, Nickolas and Santa struggle to make their holiday deliveries. The brothers quickly realize that Kris was the driving force behind their upgraded gear, including the flying sleigh. Without the ability to fly, they’re unable to make their deliveries and Santa’s reputation is ruined. Meanwhile, Kris and Roland use the Christmas failure to launch their new business, pressuring Santa and Nickolas into letting them deliver all the gifts they couldn’t. Santa and Nick are hesitant, but their rules forbid them from delivering gifts outside of Christmas, so they’re forced to agree. As their business continues to grow, Kris and Roland bring on countless new hires, including a young woman named Nikki Tolvanen. Nikki is down on her luck, and the Kris Kringle Experience gives her her first real shot at a stable life. Relieved to finally have a job, Nikki takes on extra hours to provide for her daughter, but her busy work schedule keeps them from spending any time together. Over the next three years, Kris and Roland put their company into overdrive, and soon they’ve completely taken over Christmas. Meanwhile, Santa and Nickolas despair as people stop believing in them and they’re left with no one to deliver presents to. With no work for the elves, the North Pole goes downhill, and unrest grows among the citizens. When a large portion of KKE stock is damaged, Nikki volunteers to help clean things up at the warehouse. While there, she meets Kris, who is impressed by her creative problem solving. However, Kris’s unapproved involvement at the warehouse upsets some of the KKE higher ups. Things go south for Kris when a cutthroat businessman named Edmund starts to make some major changes to the company. Determined to make KKE even more profitable, Edmund begins to make major changes and cuts. He closes several warehouses, causing Nikki to lose her job, and he convinces Roland to fire Kris. Malekith, sensing that his victory is at hand, makes it known to Santa that 2,000 years prior Nickolas took an oath that all are bound by. If the brothers have no gifts to deliver on Christmas day, the north pole reverts to his family forever. Nickolas’ secret is out and the very dire possibility that Christmas will never happen again. When Roland goes to break the news to Kris, he discovers the truth of his identity, but he still refuses to help Kris return to work. Realizing that he’s ruined the spirit of Christmas, Kris calls his brothers to reconcile, and they decide to try and save the holiday. Kris assembles a focus group to try and get people believing, but Edmund interferes and has Kris arrested for trespassing on company property. Once he’s released, Kris decides to implement a smaller plan, focused on getting a handful of people to believe. With the help of Nikki, Kris concocts a plan, hoping that it will be enough to revive everyone’s belief in Santa. Even though Nikki is unaware of Kris’s real identity, she agrees to help, however, her daughter continues to feel neglected by her mother. Ashely writes a letter to Santa and asks him to give her mother a day off so that they can finally spend some time together. Her Christmas wish makes Ashley the first one to believe, paving the way for others. Finally able to deliver gifts, Santa, Nickolas, and Kris prepare to deliver the first few gifts, but Santa steps back, insisting that Kris earned the right to deliver them himself. With Christmas saved, Kris gives Ashley her wish, offering Nikki a job working for him, but insisting that she take a vacation until January first.